Peripheral Visual Function of Children with Low Vision

描述(申请人提供)：视力低下的儿童可能会损害视野的完整性，需要补偿性策略来获取和整合视野中央和外围区域的视觉信息。对低视力儿童的观察表明，尽管标准的视觉评估表明，这种刺激模式应该是可见的，但他们往往对与定向和活动相关的外围信息没有反应。本项目的动机是目前与这一问题相关的现有知识中的几个关键空白：目前可用的视觉评估不评估外围领域的运动敏感性、注意力和模式识别；关于各种类型的视觉障碍对整合关于全景视野上的运动和空间模式的信息的过程和机制的影响的知识仍然有限；对于整合中央和外围视野上变化的空间信息的视觉技能的发展可塑性知之甚少。 为了解决这些问题，本研究的目的是：(A)开发一种测试周边视功能的方法，而不是描述光敏性的周边视功能；(B)确定低视力儿童和非低视力儿童以及不同原因的低视力儿童之间是否存在周边视功能的差异；以及(C)确定是否可以通过训练来提高周边视觉技能。 这项研究应该有助于(A)了解正常和低视力人群的几种基本视觉功能机制，(B)评估低视力儿童视觉功能的工具，以及(C)改善低视力儿童视觉功能的培训策略，特别是与使用周边视觉进行活动和空间定向有关的培训策略。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The integrity of the visual field may be impaired in children with low vision, demanding compensatory strategies for acquiring and integrating visual information over central and peripheral regions of the field. Observations of children with low vision suggest that often they are unresponsive to peripheral information relevant to orientation and mobility, even though standard visual assessments indicate that such stimulus patterns should be visible. The present project is motivated by several key gaps in currently available knowledge relevant to this problem: Currently available visual assessments do not evaluate motion sensitivity, attention, and pattern recognition in the peripheral field; knowledge is still limited about the impact of various types of visual impairments on the processes and mechanisms for integrating information about motion and spatial patterns over the panoramic visual field; and too little is known about the developmental plasticity of visual skills for integrating changing spatial information over the central and peripheral fields. To address these problems, the present study is designed to (a) develop a method for testing peripheral visual functions beyond those describing photosensitivity, (b) determine whether differences in peripheral visual function exist among children with and without low vision and those with different low vision etiologies, and (c) determine whether peripheral visual skills can be improved by training. This study should contribute (a) knowledge about several basic mechanisms of visual function in both normal and low vision populations, (b) tools for assessing visual function in children with low vision, and (c) training strategies for improving visual functioning of children with low vision, especially as related to the use of peripheral vision for mobility and spatial orientation.